As April approached during our daughter’s last year before Kindergarten, my husband and I began the same process many Montessori preschool parents engage in every Spring: making the decision about where she would go for Kindergarten. We loved the Montessori preschool, and had really seen our daughter thrive there for the past two years. And we knew the mantra about kids in the program ‘leaping’ in their learning during their third year. On the other hand, when we moved to Redding, we researched potential schools for our kids, and chose our house based upon where we intended them to attend school – a wonderful charter school that really seemed to cater to our daughter’s personality and to specific curricular offerings that were important to me and my husband.

When we thought about our daughter’s progress at Montessori in particular, we discussed how much progress she had already made – we were amazed by her burgeoning math skills, her beginning writing, her ability to select work and focus…we thought perhaps the ‘third year leap’ was something she was already experiencing. She had been so prolific and learned so many new and diverse things, how much more could she grow in the following year?

We decided to go through the lottery process at the charter school and make a decision later, if we were successful in securing her a spot. As it turned out, we were not successful. I was surprised at what a relief that was! We were please that she could continue to hone her skills and talents in her own time, according to when she was ready, both in terms of interest and development. We appreciated that she would be able to develop more ability to concentrate on her work over ever longer periods of time, and that she would learn to be responsible for progressing through her own education – that she would learn that her rewards (learning new information, skills, etc.) would be a direct result of the effort she decided to invest.

Fast forwarding to the beginning of her Kindergarten year at Shady Oaks, my husband and I were blown away at the changes we observed in her. We thought she had been ‘leaping’ in her learning the year before – she hadn’t even begun!! She went from writing her name and the names of a few items around to developing whole sentences, and then stories, in a matter of a couple of months. From reading a handful of words in beginning reader books and signs around town, she suddenly (within a period of a few weeks) moved on to reading whole stories by herself – and within a couple of months, again, she progressed to books several levels above what we have expected from a traditional 1st grader! She’s moved from adding single digits together to delving into large addition, subtraction, and multiplication – we’re not even sure what work she’s doing in the classroom that relates to this (she doesn’t tell us a whole lot about what she does); it just comes up at the dinner table or while we’re baking together. And, being a Kindergartner this year, she is really getting the opportunity to explore her leadership skills. It’s been wonderful to watch her give lessons to the ‘new friends’ in the classroom, or hear about things the younger children are working on that she can sit near and watch, while she does her own work, and help with if they’re struggling with something. A great side-benefit to that, she’s become extraordinarily helpful in the same way with her little brother at home as well.

In November of her Kindergarten year, we received a phone call from the charter school that there was an opening for her for immediate placement. My husband and I struggled with the thought at that point. We were really starting to see our daughter leap at Montessori, and we knew how much we and she both valued her self- direction, independence in learning, and the benefits of the multi-age classroom. Still, we had been invested in the idea of this charter school, and it was difficult to just let go of that. We decided to observe the classroom she would be placed to make the best-informed decision we could.

That morning, we talked to our daughter briefly about the task before us. We wanted to know what her thoughts and opinions about this were and let her know we valued her input, though we were careful to explain that this was a decision that we were ultimately going to be making based on our assessment of the options. She asked what some of the differences would be. We talked about the whole class doing the same work at the same time. We explained that she would be required to stay in her seat, and raise her hand if she wanted to ask a question or needed to get up for a drink or to go to the bathroom. She looked at us like we had sprouted horns.

What if I want to do reading and someone else wants to do writing? Well, that’s not how other classrooms work – you’ll have to read when the class is reading, and write when the class is writing. What if I’m not done reading and it’s time to write? You’ll have to save your place in what you’re reading and come back to it next time, or maybe do it on your own after school. What if I haven’t had the lesson the class is working on yet? Well, everyone gets the same lesson all together at the same time, so when it’s time to work, everyone’s had the lesson for that work. And I can’t get up to go to the bathroom without raising my hand and asking? That’s right – but they’ll let you go, we promise!

The more we talked it over, the more ludicrous it seemed to us also, given the environment that Montessori provides. Still, we went to our observation with open minds. The children seemed happy enough. The teacher was kind and engaging. They were working on a math set while we were there, counting sides of a hexagon, drawing the shape repeatedly in columns on a worksheet, coloring it yellow (the hexagon tangrams they used were all yellow), and writing six in the next column showing the number of sides for each hexagon they drew. About five minutes after we got there, the teacher stopped that lesson and had the class move to a story rug to work on some reading comprehension. This consisted of her holding up flashcards with common words (cat, hat, it, I, we, can, etc.) for the kids to say in unison three times, then the next card three times, and so on. This lasted another 10 minutes, maybe, before they moved back to their desks for a new lesson.

The teacher had explained to us that the children needed a break from the math exercise, because they really couldn’t concentrate on it for more than about 15 or 20 minutes at a time. This was the beginning of the end for us. We knew from our experience at Montessori, our daughter (and many others children in our classroom) had no problem working on a project for long periods of time, because they chose work they wanted to do and were interested in. They didn’t have to stop working because other students (who weren’t really interested in the work at hand) got restless.

In fact, this classroom’s whole day was scheduled out in 30-minute increments (or less) for various subjects. Then they lost about 4-5 minutes each time they moved from one lesson to the next as they waited for the entire class to simultaneously finish one project, move, and settle in to the next. While this allowed the children to move a little between tasks, it seems strange, having the Montessori experience to relate to, that kids who need to move aren’t allowed until it is time for the whole class to do so. And that kids that might not be ready to finish the task at hand are required to because others are, or the schedule says it’s time.

We made our decision as we walked out the classroom door from our observation that this was simply not an environment that was best for our daughter. She was clearly thriving with the Montessori method, and we didn’t see anything that seemed it would provide her with a greater educational benefit. We were happy to have the opportunity to make this decision ourselves, and know now that it really is the best choice for our family. It means we will be driving out to Middle Creek Montessori twice a day every school day for nearly the next decade, between our two children. (The charter school is less than a mile from our house – an easy walking or biking distance.) Still, the opportunity this affords them is clearly worth it for us.

On a side note, my husband and I come from the polar opposite ends of the public education spectrum: one of us easily excelled in that environment, and the other struggled to make it through. We’re both intelligent, curious individuals who love to read and have taken many opportunities to further our education outside school. But the system we grew up with, and which seems to have gone to further extremes, catered to good test-takers who don’t necessarily “learn” the information as much as memorize it for quick regurgitation on tests, while punishing those who do not test well by grading them on how they take the test, rather than how well they actually know the subject matter. Both of us have seen how the Montessori method would have made a world of difference for our own educations – for one providing a more engaging, less punitive environment that actually promotes learning, and for the other an environment that promotes actual and intentional learning, rather than simple memorization of facts without actually connecting the facts with long-term knowledge that builds upon itself. I relish the opportunity for our children to be in control of their education; to explore and learn because it’s something that they want to know, rather than something they will need to know for a test; to know that their learning, and not some arbitrary test, is both an objective in itself and a door to their future.

8 Comments

Well done with your choice. I too had a similar experience when my son left Montessori at age 5 to start school (that’s how they do it in New Zealand). My son spent 2 years at the local public school and more and more I saw modern education system take his spark away from him. They practice the “One size fits all” style of education i.e. teacher would not introduce my son to interesting books at his reading level because the rest of the class needed to “catch up” to where he was. Can you imagine using that philosophy in business or in life???!!!??? Needless to say, we went back to Montessori Elementary and he is now 12 and we continually marvel at the qualities that his upper El class has brought out in all the kids. By age 12-13, these children are confident and know that they are able to take charge of their learning. They grab life with 2 hands and go in deep. They are incredibly passionate about their interests and go for excellence. All the kids are different but what I love about it is you can see that Montessori has helped bring out the best of each of them. They are amazing kids that go on to High School ready for what is next and not needing the teacher to hand hold them along the way.

I echo your thoughts about the Montessori 3rd year/kindergarten experience. Our son tracked similarly to your daughter during his first two years at our local primary Montessori school, and we couldn’t get into our local charter elementary school. After dreaming about a Montessori continuation, I decided to start the first Montessori elementary school in Fairbanks, Alaska – Spruce Tree Montessori School – and we will open this fall with a single, lower elementary classroom guided by a wonderful Montessori-certified teacher. I am very excited about expanding the Montessori community here and continuing my son’s and others’ education in an inspiring Montessori environment. Cheers to you, your choice, and to your daughter’s foundation for learning! -sb

Thanks so much for sharing your experience, Sarah. Parents at our Montessori school have told us while touring other schools for kindergarten, their child looked at the desk or tables and said, “I have to sit in the same place the whole day?”

Our 6 y/o has been in a Montessori environment since preschool at age 3. His ability to give his full attention to whatever is happening now is magnificent. My husband and I have learned organization and focus tips from both of our Montessori sons!

I went to a montessori school for preschool and then my parents pulled me out to go to public school. I wish they would have continued with my education at the montessori beacuse once i was in public school classes i stopped learning. I spent all of elementary school barely able to read and do basic math. I caught up in Middle school but it was a lot harder than it should have been. Im in high school now with honors but i cant help but feel that if they had left me where i was happy and progressing that i could have done so much more! You made a great choice!

I was very glad to read this. My son was at a Montessori preschool for 2 years and able to read chapter books, concentrate for long periods, and carry out more advanced Math, know Geography in more detail than peers outside preschool etc. We had similar dilemmas once we had to think about Kindergarten. However, the Montessori public elementary observation showed chaos and definitely not a continuation of the preschool experience, so our options were not even as good as yours, or so we thought.

We managed to find a private International Baccalaureate school where he thrived. It opened hs world up to separate music, french, PE lessons with specialist teachers. He has been Scientist of the week presenting experiments. They have taught him to be a risk taker and communicator as well as knowledgeable. My son has grown up so much over the last year and has always been encouraged with his reading books grade levels beyond the norm, and practicing Math beyond the syllabus. It is definitely worth parents investigating every option to find the best option in their area for their child.

Thank you for this lovely post! My daughter is in Montessori here in New Zealand. She is only 3.5yo, but I can’t help but wonder what we will decide to do in a year and a half when she turns 5. As Hadley points out in her post, nearly all children here start school at 5. Will my daughter still thrive in a Montessori environment if she is the only 5yo in the class? Will she feel like she’s missing out if all her friends go off to “big school” while she stays behind with the little kids? Even if she does thrive, will it be worth the extra few minutes’ commute, compared to sending her to our local school, which is excellent, a 5 minute walk away and has so few students that there are 2 composite classrooms for ages 5-13?
Any thoughts?

Natalie, I have been struggling with a decision on whether my son 3.5 should start preschool at Montessori in Sydney or go to a local private preschool that follows on to the IB in primary/highschool, ie French, music, pe specialist teachers. My biggest concern is the transition to a public school in year 1 after Montessori 3 yr cycle is done. He will have to transition at some point so how will it be going into year 1 when everyone has been there for a year already and he spends half the year trying to adapt to the new system?